If You Build It…They Will Poop

The former site of Research Products Corp. along Ingersoll Street will host Madison’s Central Park’s restroom and storage building that features a “green roof” to collect rain runoff.

Madison’s Central Park has been approved for its first official structure, restrooms. Earlier this month the Urban Design Commission approved the $600,000 structure which was designed to jive with an “Art Approach” the concept that will shape the entire park, blending Madison-style park activities, the natural glacial geography of Madison, and the industrial tradition of the corridor. It reminds me of my first act of civil responsibility when I was maybe seven, I too advocated for restrooms in a park and I wrote Mayor Soglin a letter…wait a minute, is he still Mayor?

Porta potties as I was taught to call them; came to Orton Park due to my single letter writing campaign which somehow landed on Da Mare’s desk. You see my friend and I loved Orton Park and we were there most warm days since it was only a two-block walk. But inevitably the excretory system would hold sway and those two blocks seemed awfully far away and threatened our mirthful play.

Continue reading

Mellencamp Tells Walker to Leave “Small Town” Alone

Kerfuffle reminds me of the day I saw the “Pink House”

John Mellencamp was born in a small town and wrote really cool songs about his experiences. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker grew up in a small town (Delavan, Wisconsin), but that doesn’t mean super liberal, collective bargaining-loving Mellancamp is happy with the governor’s use of “Small Town” at his campaign events. In fact you could say many of Mellancamp’s 1980s classics such as “Small Town”, “Pink Houses”, and “Jack & Diane” were love letters to his childhood and identity with the working class. Mellancamp’s publicist Bob Merlis has notified Walker’s campaign the singer believes that the song is being ideologically misappropriated by Walker.

Continue reading

Kohl-Riggs to Primary Walker

Arthur Kohl-Riggs, a local Madison filmmaker and journalist, has submitted 2,300 nomination signatures to run for governor in the upcoming recall election. Kohl-Riggs is against Scott Walker’s policies but he has decided to fight back by running as a Lincoln Republican since he feels Walker, Paul Ryan, and others have brought a Joseph McCarthy-like “stain” on the traditions of the political party that was shaped by Lincoln.

The nominating signatures were submitted to the Government Accountability Board today (April 10) and if approved Kohl-Riggs will ensure that Walker will have a challenger from his party. Whether Walker even acknowledges Arthur’s candidacy will lay bare the extent of his Hubris. Republicans have doubled-down on their arrogance and hypocrisy by once again running “fake” candidates in the democratic primary, the legality of which may be questionable.  Continue reading

Will DNA Save Penny Brummer?

Just Knowing Sarah May Confirm Conviction

Sarah Gonstead

My former classmate Sarah Gonstead was last seen in the early morning hours of March 15, 1994. An acquaintance, Penny Brummer, who had dated one of Sarah’s close friends, told police she dropped Sarah off behind the Club 3054 on East Washington Avenue in Madison after an evening of bar-hopping. Brummer also said that before she left she saw Sarah talking to some people in a Taco Bell parking lot nearby. Sarah’s body was found three weeks later alongside a road on the far West Side .

Brummer was convicted in Gonstead’s murder based on circumstantial evidence and a jealousy motive involving Brummer’s ex-girlfriend Bea (not her real name) who Sarah knew since childhood. Bea had been thinking of dating men again, and Sarah may have been involved in helping her through that process. One of Sarah’s friends says she was likely trying to be helpful to Bea, but she was not a forceful person.  Continue reading

Subgate: Sandwiches For Votes


By now you have probably heard of “Subgate”, where a sandwich threatens to put an ugly mayonnaise stain on the tie of the Romney campaign. Yesterday, as the Wisconsin GOP Primary got underway the Romney campaign held what it called an “Election Day Lunch” at a Waukesha, Wisconsin Cousin’s Subs restaurant to encourage people to vote. In attendance was Romney and his new political lover, pretty boy U.S. Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) handing out sandwiches.  Continue reading

The Ed Show Taps Badger State Enthusiasm

Wisconsin State Senators Lena Taylor and Chris Larson appear on The Ed Show in Madison on April 2, 2012.

There is no doubt that Ed Schultz is in the corner of Wisconsinites that oppose FitzWalker and their GOP robot army; bringing his show to town several times last year during the Madison Spring. He returned Monday night (April 2), this time to the cozy confines of the Great Dane Pub where the voices of the movement such as Senators Lena Taylor and Chris Larson shared the discussion with witty Monty Python references and something about Mitt Romney’s zipper.  Continue reading

The Legend of Cooley Moon [Official Trailer]

It’s pretty cool to know film celebrities. I don’t really know many, or any…until now. I didn’t know I knew a movie star when I met Chad Eggen in a bland residence hall at St. Cloud State University (SCSU) in September 1991. We would be roommates for a year, but have been good friends ever since. Now he is a leading man in the soon to be released indie sci-fi horror film The Legend of Cooley MoonContinue reading

One if by Land, Two if by iPad

Non-commercial pilots have historically been the early adopters of technology for use in the cockpit; however the iPad has been a game changer. You see your iPad is not only a cool thing to watch movies on; for the last few years pilots have been using it as a portable moving map display. Before the iPad and other tablets, having a moving map in a light aircraft has been prohibitively expensive.

Now companies are making technology to enhance the performance of the iPad in the airplane as demonstrated by the unveiling of Stratus, a wireless GPS receiver for use with iOS devices . Sporty’s, the largest pilot shop in the United States made the announcement at Sun ‘n Fun 2012 last week. The receiver connects to the iOS device via WiFi for use by an app called Foreflight. The iPad has changed the way pilots manage their navigation information, as the paper charts that visual and instrument pilots use to navigate have mostly been reduced or eliminated. That has saved weight and time flipping through books to find the right chart while flying the airplane. I can hear the trees cheering. Continue reading

Hump Day at SNF…The Lost Post

Father and daughter sit atop the family’s Waco UPF-7 and watch aerobatic pilot Sean D. Tucker defy physics and physiology in his highly modified Pitts Special biplane.

I started this post last Wednesday (March 27) but got too busy to finish it so here are some cool things I found mid-week at Sun ‘n Fun 2012. Hump day meant literally humping around the grounds looking at lots of airplanes. I also talked to two women who certainly epitomize the aviation spirit, a man with eight airplanes and a bus, and a guy named Herb who had all the answers, just not the ones you expected.  Continue reading